SUMMARY:- A massive earthquake has hit off the East coast of the Philippines. It has been felt up to an intensity VII onshore through USGS.The tsunami was due to hit Eastern Samar Island and also the following other locations – Northern Samar, Leyte, Southern Leyte, Surigao del Norte, Surigao del Sur. It was due to have hit already and we are waiting on reports.
The latest PTWC ratings:- Only a local tsunami warning was enforced. Eyewitness reports in the east have seen 1.2m waves.
as can be expected with a massive earthquake , we are witnessing a lot of moderate to strong aftershocks. People at the coast will hardly feel them because most of them are occurring approx. 100 km out in the sea.
Update 20:00 UTC : The final earthquake value looks to be Mw7.6 instead of Mw7.9. Just 3/10ths but in reality a very big difference.
Philippines Coast Struck By Earthquakes
A 7.6-magnitude undersea earthquake struck off the eastern coast of the Philippines late today, killing at least one person in a house collapse, and a second temblor struck about half an hour later, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
Media reported that power was knocked out in several cities and roads and bridges were destroyed .
A tsunami alert originally was issued for several countries including the Philippines, Indonesia, Palau, Japan and for Pacific islands as far away as the Northern Marianas, but was eventually lifted, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said.
Benito Ramos, a retired general who heads the country's disaster-response agency, said in an advisory broadcast nationwide that residents should be on the alert for aftershocks.
"Don't sleep, especially those in the eastern seaboard…because there might be aftershocks," he said.
The first quake, originally pegged at a magnitude 7.9, hit at a depth of 34.9 kilometres and was centred 106 kilometres east of Samar Island, the USGS said.
The second earthquake, with a magnitude of 5.5, struck 102 kilometres northeast of San Isidro.
The initial quake set off car alarms, shook items off shelves and sent many coastal residents fleeing for high ground.
So someone please tell me... Why are they always downgraded? I don't member earthquakes being downgraded until the last couple of years. Does anyone else remember this happening prior to a few years ago?
ReplyDeleteMust go find my tin foil hat so I can join the rest of you! ;)
Alice, sometimes the magnitude is increased. All earthquakes are read by a seismolotigist initially, then posted. For the larger ones, multiple seismologists read them and are often downgraded or upgraded . . .the changes go both ways :)
ReplyDeleteI've sincerely, never seen the number of quakes, worldwide for any given week this high. On an active week, the total number may be in the 300s. The total is over 630 right now. Though I will expect a hundred or so to fall off in the morning as it will be one week since the CA swarm began.
Has anyone seen anything about the very active quake swarm in the Virgin Islands region?
Looks like Obama has, yet again, snubbed Israel. 1200 troops instead of the 5000 we promised to participate in military exercises with Israel . . .and only one instead of two war ships.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.timesofisrael.com/us-scales-down-annual-military-drill-with-israel/